Public commercial assets

Public commercial assets are government-owned economic assets and operations that generate non-tax revenue or could do so if properly structured and used.

Definition

Public commercial assets are economic assets or operations that generate non-tax revenue or could do so if properly structured and used. Typical examples include:

• Government-owned enterprises active in sectors such as energy, water and transportation;
• Non-corporatized activity – utilities, natural resources, air rights, broadband spectra etc;
• Real estate – developed or undeveloped, currently used by public entities or third parties;
• Infrastructure – where toll-based or PPP-related;
• Financial institutions - banks, insurance and mortgage institutes.

While policy assets that are funded by taxes and do not earn returns, such as parks, museums or historic and heritage buildings. However, policy operations such as a school, or a hospital and a police station can be located in real estate that could be considered a commercial asset, since the policy operation is not specifically related to the specific building or real estate.

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